So far, so good!

We made it though week one of "Operation No-Daddy".  Sorry for the cheesy title - that's what the Army does all the time.

I put both of the younger kids in camp this week, because this is not my first rodeo.  I knew they needed to be busy, I needed them to be out of my hair for a few hours each day, and it ended up being a great decision.

Michelle went to Nature Camp with her BFF.  She liked Nature Camp, except not so much the nature part.  She likes the water activities, the playground time and hikes, but not the bees and moths in the bathroom.  I think we need to take this girl camping a little more often.  I can't have a kid who is afraid of bugs!

She also had a couple of playdates with the above pictured BFF.  Good move - between camp, friend time, and the pool, she was too tired most nights to squeak out much more than, "I miss Daddy." as her head hit the pillow.

Josh did baseball camp this week.  On Monday morning he asked me how long he would be at camp.  I told him 6 hours each day.  His response, "So, 6 hours a day for 5 days... that's just awesome!"   He loves baseball in a way that's hard to explain. 

The older 2 were busy with jobs, friends, college summer life. 

I am hanging in there.  Miss my man, but glad this first week is behind us. 

Who seems to be having the hardest time with Dad gone?  That would be our crazy dog.  He is pacing around each night, looking for Bill.  He sleeps by the door, and if he hears the slightest sound outside he jumps up, looking for his Dad.  He barks at the least little sound.  It's sweet, and very annoying.

My New Year Resolution!

I would be willing to bet many of you saw this title and were surprised for 2 reasons - first, you were probably shocked to see I am actually blogging!  And secondly, you probably think I am very confused to be blogging about a new year in July!   In many ways, it is a new year for the Cole family.  Yesterday morning my soldier, my husband, the "Brats" Daddy, got on an airplane to fly to "a-land-far-far-away" to serve his country.  He's only been gone 24 hours, but yea, we miss him a whole bunch already! 

I am trying not to think a year, but think of this as 52 weekends.  Weekends are the worst part - during the week, everyone is working, in school, and life is pretty much business as usual.  But the weekends are tough, because that is family time, and we are painfully aware that our family is not together. The other thing that's hard is holidays, so I'm thinking of this as 52 weekends and one of each holiday.  All we have to do is get through one of each holiday - one Christmas, one of everybody's birthday... etc.  But, even if you look at it as one of each holiday and 52 weekends, or a year, it's still a long time!

So, I am trying to be more intentional about blogging in this "New Year".  I am hoping maybe Daddy can see our blog in his far away land.  But, I am also doing this to keep busy, to keep a record of our year apart. 

I had someone tell me just the other day she could never be an Army wife.  She said we are made a tough stuff, and she just couldn't do it. I thought about that for a while after she left, and I realized how many people really don't understand military life.  If you think we are made out of something different than the rest of the world, that's not true.  We just happen to love a soldier - that's the only difference.  We cry when we are sad, our children misbehave, and we will all walk around with a little piece of our hearts missing until we are together again. 

This was the last picture taken of our family as a "whole".   Only 52 more weekends and a bunch of "ones" until we are together again.

 

A little "Mo" Christmas!

We have been looking for a new dog for about 4 weeks. Our sweet Clark passed away in October at the age of 14, and it took my heart a little while to grieve for him. But, after we returned from my parents house for Thanksgiving, I knew it was time. I missed hearing the pitter patter of doggie feet in our house, so we started looking at the rescues and shelters.

On December 17 we found our little cutie! His name was Larry - really?!!! So, we decided we had to rename him. He is a 5 months old Terrier mix - we think he might have some kind of retriever mix as well... maybe Lab or Golden. He is VERY SWEET! When we went to the shelter, he played with us for about 5 minutes, and then he went over and gave Josh a big lick on the ear. That was when I knew he was the dog for us.

We came up with 3 names we liked, and after much deliberation and a lot of input from our Facebook friends, we settled on Mozart. We are such a musical family, it just seemed like the right fit for us. We decided to call him Mo for short... keeping life simple for now, but letting him know he can aspire to greatness!

We brought him home last Thursday. He is doing great, but oh my, he is such a puppy! Not fully housebroken, jumps on everyone and everything, chews... yep! He is keeping us busy. But, we have laughed more in the last 5 days than in the last 5 months. He is so fun and so funny! He pulled all the bows off our Christmas packages, played in the tissue paper, stole toys from the kids, and mostly stole our hearts.

Having a puppy on Christmas morning is kind of like running a marathon... thrilling, fun and exhausting!

Merry Christmas and best wishes to you all!

Happy Family Day

3 years ago today we met Michelle for the first time! It's hard to imagine life without her. Yet, when I think about that day it still amazes me how much I remember - how I felt, everything we did. I am still in awe of how easy Michelle was, from day one. (She was saving it up for kindergarten! Just kidding.)

When we met Michelle, all I really knew about her was that she had a cleft palate in need of repair, and that supposedly she liked to sing and dance. Of course, we didn't discover that for ourselves until about 6 months later. She did great from day one, but it really did take her about 8 months to "settle in". I didn't even realize it those first months, but I could tell a difference when she finally relaxed, finally settled in, finally gave us every part of herself.

Today, 3 years later, I know so much more about this precious girl. Pink is her favorite color. She lives to be outside and play. She adores her big brother Josh. She can read about 50 sight words, say anything she wants... this, from a girl who could say nothing intelligible when we brought her home. And we were told might never speak clearly - boy, were the Doc's wrong on that one! She has a sweet tooth, but her favorite food is still noodles. She hates to have her hair brushed. She has a great sense of humor.

She completes our family! I can't imagine my life without her, and I thank God every day for the miracle of adoption!



We had to celebrate a day early - tonight Bill Jr. has a guitar concert at school. We celebrated in what has become our tradition - ordering Chinese food from our favorite take out place, red velvet cake, and singing "Michelle" - the Beatles version. (of course, we didn't put quite enough red dye in the cake, so it was more like a pink velvet cake. Michelle loved it - she told me she hoped she turned into Pinkalicious!)

Update from the World's Worst Blogger - or in other words, "Fall"!

These pictures should probably be divided into several different blog posts, but at the rate I am going, I think we better just get them out there and be glad to have anything blogged at this point! I thought I would have all this time this year - Michelle is in school all day, I had images in my head of an immaculate house, time to catch up on scrapbooks (which are now 3 years overdue), lunches with friends and time to read books.

I have no idea why I thought all this would happen! I am busier than ever! I am teaching music at Michelle's old preschool 2 days a week, I have almost as many private students as last year, and I took on several homeschool kids during the day. Bill and I sat down one day recently and figured out how many hours I put in each week, and it was significantly more than a part time job. I'm not quite "working" 40 hours a week, but if you put in my other job - being a mom, then I am way into the overtime department.

So, forgive me if I haven't blogged much lately.

Hope you feel a little caught up after this.

I did get the chance to chaperone Michelle's Kindergarten field trip to the farm a few weeks ago. We had fun on the hayride, visiting the farm animals, and riding a couple of slides. Michelle's BFF is Caitlin - she is a cutie-pa-tootie! She sends Michelle little notes in her backpack. They play together all the time. I love Kindergarten!

I did get the chance to attend the Army Acquisition Ball with my good looking husband. I think I might have already blogged about this, but I really liked this picture so I included it again! I have been to many of these type of formal events over the years, and to be honest, they aren't usually that much fun. Normally, they are kind of stressful, and I hardly get to talk to my husband. I would rather put on a pair of jeans and go out to PF Changs with Bill and have a meaningful conversation over some honey crispy chicken. (This is sooooo not real Chinese food, but we love it anyway! Sorry... I digress....) But, I actually enjoy the Acquisition ball. I think it's because "we" have been in the Army for a long time, and this area is kind of different from living on a military post. We don't see our Army friends on a daily basis, and it's fun to catch up with friends we only see once a year.


Recently we went to see Lizzy sing at school. This is the first time she has performed that we have been able to attend, the first time she has had any solo/just her/ time on stage. It was really neat to see how she is blossoming and developing as a singer! Wow! She is really a young woman now, and it's fun to see. She did a beautiful job with her opera scenes.


We had some fun exploring Pittsburgh - it really is a fun city! We all went to the Science Museum.


This week Michelle's class put on a Thanksgiving play and "feast" with her class. They sang some cute songs, reenacted the Pilgrims coming to America and being welcomed by the Native Americans, and had some turkey and pumpkin pie.

Chasing China

I just finished the newest book by Kay Bratt - Chasing China. If you are looking for something to put on your Christmas list, this would be a great choice! I read this book with such mixed feelings. It is a beautifully written story, and I was immediately captivated by the characters and places Kay describes. It was also emotionally charged - it deals with all the "hard places" in adoption, but still very much worth it.

It's the story of a young woman, Mia, who goes to China looking for her birth family. It's got a little bit of everything - romance, adventure, and such detailed descriptions of the people and places in China.

It's a "must read" for those of us whose lives are touched by International Adoption, but I would buy this book for anyone.

Here's the link-
http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-China-Daughters-Quest-Truth/dp/1466478578/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

Every once in a while, we have to leave the "brats" at home and have a little grown up fun! Each October we have the chance to go to the Army Acquisition Ball. We are so fortunate that it is held right here in the D.C. area. It's kind of like homecoming week for us - we see so many old friends. This year Bill was nominated for an award. He didn't win, but it was an honor for him to be nominated. It was a fun night.

And, I get to hang out with this good looking man. Hubba-hubba!